Euro zone decision on size of bailout fund seen delayed

(Reuters) - Euro zone leaders may not be able to meet international demands to ramp up their own funds for bailing out the bloc's debtors when they meet next week because Germany is showing no sign of dropping its opposition to the plan, euro zone officials said.

A bigger European fund is a condition for major non-European economies before they lend more money to the International Monetary Fund to provide an even bigger wall of cash to fight the crisis that has already claimed three euro debtor countries and now threatens the much bigger economies of Italy and Spain.

"I would not bet on a positive outcome by the end of the March 1-2 summit," one euro zone official said. "German opposition to a deal is still very strong."

Euro zone leaders are set to review the 500 billion euro ($675 billion) limit on the joint lending capacity of their temporary and permanent bailout funds, known by their acronyms EFSF and ESM, at the March 1-2 summit.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/02/25/uk-eurozone-bailout-imf-idUKTRE81O08A20120225 Sat Feb 25, 2012 1:41pm GMT